A heartwarming video showing a shelter dog's delight as he heads off to a new forever home has left pet lovers feeling emotional.
PETA estimates that more than 6 million animals enter shelters every year. The aftermath of the holiday season is an especially busy time with large swathes of so-called "present pets" given up in the first few weeks of January.
Shelters end up being home to any number of wonderful animals—just like the doggo in the video posted to Reddit by Kirito7M. He is one of the lucky ones, though, and has been adopted.
An affectionate dog with an adorable smile, he is seen putting out his paw, apparently to say goodbye, to a woman behind the reception desk at the shelter. The clip, shared to the forum's "Aww" thread on December 9, can also be viewed here.
Delight is written all over the mutt's face in the charming video, which has earned more than 22,000 upvotes alongside a glut of comments from besotted animal lovers.
"That doggy is so excited." PoorlyAntique wrote. "We don't deserve dogs."
"Aww he's adorable!" ApricotPenguin posted. "The entire time, in my head I was thinking of him saying something along the lines of 'I'm going to my forever home now. Thank you for taking care of me while I was here.'"
"So cute and happy," Camgirlslover commented. "It's like he knows he will have a better life."
Harum Scarum wrote: "That makes me want to cry happy tears."
Plenty of Redditors who commented on the clip extolled the virtues of taking in a shelter dog.
"Shelter dogs are the best," sj4iy wrote. "Our mutt turns 8 this year. I hope they have a long happy life together."
Ok_Improvement_5897 posted: "When I adopted my dog, and it was time to leave, he just seemed to know, and seemed so happy to jump in the car and leave the rescue behind."
Some viewers were simply overcome with the emotion of it all. "Every time I watch it I tear up," wrote Bailey1281, while 1Sluggo said, simply: "I'm not crying. I'm not crying. I'm not crying."
Newsweek has contacted the original Reddit poster for comment.
A similar video, chronicling a one-eyed dog's reaction to being adopted, went viral on TikTok in October.
Elsewhere, a pup who had suffered horrific injuries and years of abuse while being used as "bait" by dogfight trainers, is now settling in at her new home.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Jack Beresford is a Newsweek Senior Internet Culture & Trends Reporter, based in London, UK. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
